Archive for the ‘Original Patterns’ Category

I know what you must be thinking – Why is this called a Mullet Cowl? Well, it’s not that I intended it to have such an unhip name, in fact it didn’t have a name until late in the process. But, once I started on the colored section, the phrase “business at the front, party at the back,” was firmly stuck in my head.

Originally, I had planned on making an all-white woven cable because I needed one more Christmas present and after knitting 2 of the Very Braidy Cowls a change of scenery was in order. Then I remembered my mother-in-law saying that my niece loved mis-matched things. This gave me the idea to give the cowl a front and back. That way she could wear the white at the front, colored at the front or even give it a 1/4 turn and show a bold stripe. Plus, the cowl is sized to be big enough to slip over your head, but not so big that your neck is still exposed to the cold air.

I’m offering this pattern for free because I ‘m writing it from memory since the cowl was still on the needles when I left for Christmas dinner yesterday and it went home with it’s new owner. I was lucky I had time to grab a couple of [fuzzy] snap shots with my phone. I also used naked (without ball bands) yarn from my stash, so you probably won’t be able to find these exact yarns anywhere, but I’ll make some suggestions below.

If you would like to knit your own Mullet Cowl, you’ll need:

1 ball of Lilly Sugar and Cream 100% Cotton in Soft Violet (CC1)or approximately 95 yards of a single color Worsted Weight yarn.

1 ball of Lilly Sugar and Cream 100% Cotton in Violet Veil (CC2) or approximately 95 yards of an ombre Worsted Weight yarn that matches the MC and CC1.

Scrap yarn for Provisional cast on.

US size 10.5 knitting needles or needles that will give a gauge of 4.5 sts per inch in Stockinette stitch.

(Optional) Smaller knitting needle for picking up stitches of provisional cast-on – I recommend a circular needle, just in case your point isn’t going the direction you thought it would.

Cable Needle – I recommend Clover U-Cable Stitch Holders because they have a small footprint when hanging to the front or back of your work. Simply slip your stitches on to the short leg and knit them off the long.

Tapestry needle for grafting and to weave in the ends – I recommend a metal needle. Plastic tends to bend and makes grafting more difficult.

From this point forward, you will continue repeating the rows as outlined above except each row will be knit by alternating skeins in a CC1, CC2, MC, CC1, CC2, MC, and so on, fashion.

As you’re knitting with one yarn, the other 2 will be left to hang on either side of your work. When you finish a row, simply drop the current yarn and pick up the next before continuing the next row.

To keep the edges from getting too tight, leave enough slack in the yarn so that you won’t be pulling the previous row too close. I also suggest holding the yarn from the completed row to the back of the work, along with left needle, so that the first stitch doesn’t get too big as you begin knitting with the next yarn. Feel free to drop it after a few sts.

Finishing In all, the cowl’s 11 rows are repeated 9 times, except for the final WS row. That row will be made up by grafting the top and bottom together.

Undo the provisional cast on and slip the live sts from the bottom onto your smaller, needle. The reason I like the Crochet provisional cast on so much is that I can undo one stitch at a time and slip it onto the needle.

Graft (Kitchener stitch) the top and bottom together using the next yarn in the pattern and then weave in all loose ends.

As always, I can’t wait to see your projects, so please leave comments, and post pictures. And, don’t forget, You can sell this cowl as a finished object. See Begone, Personal-Use only patterns for details.

Eureka! I finally found the source of so many orphaned yarns in my stash, and the ball of Red Heart Boutique Sashay Yarn was almost one of the newest un-loved yarns stuffed into the art-deco side board I use to hide store my yarn in.

Turns out, that I am constantly falling victim to my own grand ideas before fully vetting them and assumed I would “whip up” a quick scarf for someone as a holiday gift. After all, the photo on the ball band made it look pretty good. But after I got home and began browsing Ravelry projects associated with the yarn, I was overwhelmed with an assortment of scarves that remind me of feather boas. The idea of a feather boa brought up all sorts of campy imagery when I thought about what someone might wear, or not wear, with it and decided I just couldn’t give it as a Christmas present.

In any case, I knew this yarn, with the ball band torn off and partially re-wound wouldn’t be going back to the store, but I had no intention of keeping it in my stash for the rest of eternity, but what to make with it?

The good news was that I did find inspiration in the Rav projects. Way down in the list, past hundreds of scarves, there were 2 other options. First was the Kelp Forest Shawlette, but I don’t think any of my intended targets was a shawl kind of gal. The second option were various forms of toddler tutu, but the only little girl on my list isn’t a toddler, so I went to the drawing board and came up with my own version.

The skirt I came up with is knit in the round, inside out and has a fairly large top opening with a draw string to accommodate a wide variety of sizes. (One size fits most children)

To begin, with MC, cast on 210 sts and join to work in the round while being careful not to twist your stitches.

Round 1 place unique marker and work *K1, P1* Repeating between the ** to the end of the round.Round 2 work K1, P1 until the last 6 stitches. Then with the CC, stretch out the first few inches of your ruffle yarn and locate the top and bottom edge (with metallic thread). Ruffle yarn is a mesh and to create a clean look for this project we will need to hide the raw edge.

Fold about 1/2″ of the end of the mesh over on itself and line up the top, bottom and middle rows of the mesh.

Insert the right needle into the first loop on the left needle as if to knit.

Before wrapping your yarn as you would for a knit stitch, pierce both layers of the bottom row of the mesh with your right needle

Wrap your yarn and then draw through the combined loops and complete the knit stitch as you normally would (5 stitches left to finish the round)

For the next 5 stitches, you’ll complete the same actions as you did in steps 2-4, except you’ll be working across the folded edge of the mesh, using the strands/holes in the middle portion of the mesh to incorporate the end of the mesh into the knitted stitches.

Round 3 Continuing with CC using just the top 2 threads of the mesh knit all stitches. DO NOT break yarn after finishing the roundRound 4 MC – Knit all stitchesRound 5 MC – *K 35 and PM* 5 times then K 35 (end of round and unique marker already in place)Round 6 MC – K all sts except SSK after each marker and K2Tog before each marker.Round 7 CC – Skipping at least 2 holes in the mesh to provide enough slack to reach this round, K all sts using the top 2 threads of the mesh.Rounds 8-12 MC – K all Sts

Repeat rounds 6-12 until there are 48rounds and 126 stitches on your needles.

Round 49 CC – K all sts using the top 2 threads of the mesh. At the end of the round, leave about 1″ of mesh for finishing and cut CC yarn.Round 50 Begin by hiding the raw edge of the CC yarn just as outlined in Round 2 except you will be starting with the top edge of the mesh and working to the bottom. Be sure the raw edge is folded under since there won’t be any layers above to hide the raw edge.

Using the remainder of the CC, a belt or a pretty ribbon, weave in and out of the YO holes left at the top edge of the skirt to form a belt.

As always, I can’t wait to see your projects, so please leave comments, and post pictures. And, don’t forget, You can sell this skirt as a finished object. See Begone, Personal-Use only patterns for details.

Would you believe this is the first time I’ve ever designed a blanket for a baby girl? The process was funny for me this time because with all the little boys I’ve been knitting for, my biggest gripe was that everything was too pretty. When I started this design I found myself griping about not being pretty enough and I knitted and frogged (rip-it, rip-it) so many iterations that I wasn’t sure if the yarn was still usable.

My first try was a single strand of peach with the same needles I used for the Knitted Broomstick Lace Scarf, but Annabelle will be a January baby and I wanted to be sure she’d be warm.

Then I tried holding the yarn double and bumping up to US size 8 and the big US 36’s I used for the Knit Broomstick Lace Wrap. This time, however the blanket was much too thick. In fact I knitted a whole skein this way and when I looked at the skinny little section I had, I knew I wasn’t on the right track.

Frogging this time was a bit of a challenge because I had to separate the yarns and re-wind them as a single.

Next, I decided that the answer was 6 gathered loops using the US size 6 and size 36 needles, and set out knitting. When I got almost to the end of the ball (that use to be the first skein), I knew I didn’t have enough yarn. To make matters worse, I had been messing around for so long I couldn’t find the ball band to match dye-lots. ARGGGGH!

So I resigned myself to adding a contrasting color, but I knew simply switching colors wasn’t going to look good. You guessed it… I tore it all out – again.

But, as you can see, I finally figured everything out and have a unique stripe pattern in the blanket to show for it. Knitting with 3 skeins at once might seem a little odd, but by switching between them and carrying the extra yarn along the edges the 4 row repeat turned into the stripes you see in the finished blanket.

Although the pattern gives directions for recreating this blanket exactly, you could probably get a similar effect by using a self-striping yarn if you’re not excited about alternating skeins.

The finished size is approximately 31” by 30” but the blanket has a lot of stretch in both directions.

A few weeks ago, I was in desperate need of a hair cut and as I sat down in the chair I plunked my purse on the counter. My stylist nearly squealed with delight asking loads of questions about it. Although I told her I don’t really like to knit finished objects for sale, she begged, I agreed and while I was picking up the wool I needed for her purse I fell in love with Patons Classic Wool in Lemongrass. I bought 3 skeins not knowing what I would knit with them.

Well that’s not completely true, I had been working on increases to release knitted broomstick lace from it’s natural, scarf-like, rectangle shape so it could become a lot of other things. The problem with that is that broomstick lace doesn’t behave like ordinary knitting because of the large row of loops so standard ratios of increases didn’t yield a predictable shape.

Initially I wanted to create a triangle shawl, but it looked more like a carrot than anything you’d be able to drape over your shoulders. The next iteration had a wider angle, but was creating too much fabric and arching at the center back. I felt as if it would bunch up at wearers neck and look funny.

The roundness was intriguing to me though and I decided if I couldn’t beat it, I would join it and this wrap was born. The best part is that I learned a lot about increasing with Knitted Broomstick lace and I hope it won’t take me as long to push out patterns with even more shaping.

You won’t believe how well this wrap stays on your shoulders. By adding increases in the style of a Raglan sweater, it hugs and won’t let go. I also think the Broomstick Lace gives this wrap great flexibility to be dressed up or down depending on your moods.

Although the pattern calls for circular needles, this project is knit back and forth using the extra length to accommodate the ever growing number of stitches.

If you would like to knit your own Broomstick Lace Wrap, you’ll need:

The Pattern, available for download at Ravelry (and with the buttons below)

US size 8 and US size 36 circular knitting needles, 40″ or longer (Hint – Addi has this monster sized needle in a circular)

4 stitch markers large enough to slide over your largest needle

As always, I can’t wait to see your projects, so please leave comments, and post pictures. And, don’t forget, You can sell this wrap as a finished object. See Begone, Personal-Use only patterns for details.

Wool is alright, I guess, but I love knitting with unusual things. I’ve knit potholders with strips cut from old t-shirts, turned plastic grocery bags into plarn and the mason twine I had left-over from my rose project was just begging to be knit into something.

That something turned into a market bag because the nylon will stand up to major amounts of abuse, which is why masons, landscapers and construction workers can drag it all over their work sites.

If you hadn’t guessed by now, mason twine, isn’t something you’ll find at your local yarn store, but will find at your local hardware. In this case, the twine I used came from my local Tractor Supply Co., but if you’re going to knit this bag you can find it at any building supply store. It might be called mason twine, builders twine or go by another name, but whatever it’s called on the label, you’re looking for 100% nylon, size/gauge 18 in a color that pleases you.

High visibility is an understatement for most of the available colors and the pink is hellaciously bright. My solution was to tone it down a bit with black, so I picked up a spool of Red Heart Nylon Crochet Thread. It’s even size 18, just like my hot-pink mason twine, though they aren’t quite the same. The twine is just a bit thicker, braided and less prone to splitting than the twisted Red Heart. Though this isn’t a problem for this bag and the contrasting color and texture give it life.

US size 13, 32” or longer circular needles for the body and between US size 5 and 8, 24” circular needles or longer for the band and strap.

1 double pointed needle in the same size as your smaller circular needles

Optional:Stitch holder

The bag has a bottom-up, seamless construction and I used size 5 needles to knit the top band and handle of the prototype, but only because I’m the family Sherpa and wanted a smaller opening so that I could smush jackets, mittens, scarves and other items of shucked clothing in without them popping out of the top.

To loosen the top band and opening of the bag, without adjusting stitch count, choose a larger needle.

Handle length can also be adjusted, just keep in mind that knit will grow some so er on the short side.

If you’re not ready to create the ultimate in seamless bags, you don’t have to use Judy’s Magic Cast-on. It’s just soooo cool to use when you get the hang of it.

Another consideration is that I had no idea there were other colors. Red Heart offers, Black, White and Natural, and there’s all sorts of neon at the hardware store but until I searched Amazon for a link to share, I had no idea how many color combinations would be available in Nylon for this bag. I had considered other yarns and textures – like a smooth yarn and a fuzzy one as a stash-buster project, so please, knock my socks off and post your pictures at Ravelry for me to see.

Hand knitting has to be one of the most tedious ways to create fabric, but like so many others, I’m addicted to it and fuel my addiction by sharing the patterns I have created. Now that I’m writing up patterns, one thing I don’t understand is why some designers annex their copyright saying that you’re not suppose to use their pattern if you’re going to sell the finished item.

When I create a pattern, I have time on my side. Although I put in hours of work to develop the pattern and knit a prototype, I can count on reselling the same pattern many times and many visits to my blog to see the free patterns. In theory, I’ll eventually break even and may even profit as long as people keep coming back.

However, when someone buys a hand knitted object, they have no need for a pattern. Regardless of skill, or time, if the buyer could knit the object themselves they would and since they’re not, the pattern used isn’t even a consideration.

Therefor, if people are going to create items for sale from my patterns, I’m going to encourage them to do it.

Here are my caveats (AKA help a Sista out)…

Do not redistribute patterns. After all, selling patterns and blog visitors is what keeps me going. If you sell the yarn I used in one of my patterns and want to redistribute it, please contact me. My bulk rates are reasonable and I’ll even personalize the PDF with your shop address and logo so it will look snazzy for your customers.

If you have helpers knitting finished objects for you, please buy a copy of the pattern for each of them. Again, selling patterns keeps me going and my bulk rates are reasonable.

You must include attribution with the object. If you’re selling online, please include a link back to either the blog post, here, or the Ravelry pattern. Or if you’re selling at a craft fair, a note safety pinned to the object with pattern name, Karlie Robinson Designs and KarlieRobinson.com is the way to go.

If you like the pattern well enough to create finished objects to sell, would you do me a favor and post pictures and details at Ravelry? I’d love to see your work.

So here’s to all the budding fiber arts entrepreneurs. I hope my patterns contribute to your success.

I saw the Stitch Diva videos showing how to do Broomstick Lace and fell in love with the look of gathered loops, but too many years of abusing my wrists makes crocheting a very painful experience for me. With that in mind I spent a few evenings doodling while watching TV and came up with a method to create a 100% knitted Broomstick Lace.

Then, a few months ago I saw Storey Publishing’s call for submissions for their next book – 101 One-Skein Lace Wonders! It was the kick I needed to formalize my doodles into a usable pattern. I was so pleased with the results. Lace can sometimes look too formal for everyday, but not this scarf.

I know there isn’t anything terribly exciting about a scarf, but with just one skein, and stitch not normally seen as a knit, I figured a rectangle was the easiest way to kick things off. Though I couldn’t get past the boringness issue so I chose Habu Textiles A-174 Cotton Gima in color 25, “Lemon” (1oz, 100% Cotton, 265 yards).

The project knits up quick and is so light and airy, it’s the perfect accessory for cool spring outings. The best part is the lace is created without a complex chart and there isn’t a yarn-over to be found.

The pattern, if you’d like to knit your own Broomstick Lace, is available at Ravelry.

I finally got the blanket for Herlo’s son done. What do you think? Click the picture to get a larger image.

It took a little longer than expected to finish because my schedule has been a bit busier than normal lately.

My hope is that I’ll get it in the mail today or tomorrow and by this weekend, there will be a little Fedorian snuggled under it.

The stitch pattern is simply linen stitch except it’s worked with two colors of yarn.

To start the blanket, I cast on 150 stitches with Color A (Chocolate Brown) and switched to Color B (Seafoam) for the first and second row. Then back to the brown for rows 3 and 4.

The knitting in the image above is actually on it’s side. The cast on and cast-off are the long edges, but I don’t suppose it makes much difference what direction you travel while knitting. If you’d like a better idea of what the work looks like as your knitting, the image to the left ought to do it for you.

Personally, I like longer runs because turning the work tends to break me out of the zone. I suppose I’m spoiled by knitting in the round.

I simply knitted until the piece measured a rough square, or about a skein and a half. The knitting then found it’s rectangle shape in the washer. With every other stitch slipped, you shouldn’t get too hung up on what the shape it really is until the yarn finds it’s natural location. You could block it back to a square, but for a baby blanket that’s going to be washed a lot, natural, unblocked is a good way to go.

It’s not that I can’t sew… I’m actually not too bad if I put my mind to it. Instead, you could classify my problem as dinner-table-itis. Meaning if I can’t finish by dinner time or don’t have a really good reason, I probably shouldn’t haul out the sewing paraphernalia. Unfortunately, a pretty little handbag doesn’t fit into my schedule right now and it’s not a good reason to prevent us from dining at the kitchen table. C’est la vie.

However, a few minutes of knitting now and then, does fit into my schedule. Yes, it probably would have been faster to simply get out my sewing machine to make Made By Rae’s Buttercup bag, but I just can’t resist a knitting pattern challenge.

Here’s the results…

The Recipe…
Ingredients for this bag –

Bernat Worsted. A one pound or so skein. (Will make more than a few bags)

2 stitch markers – it’s helpful if they are different so you’ll know when the rounds begin

cable needle

stitch holder or scrap yarn

Optional – clip to make a key ring holder

Project Notes

This bag is knitted from the bottom up so it is seamless.

I used a magnetic snap to close this bag and the jeweled leaf ‘bling’ was chosen because I could sew it on to add stability to the knitting.

Guage and needle size is not important but I chose a tight knit because I didn’t want to line the bag.

Let’s get cookin’!Cast on an even number of stitches as you would for your favorite toe up socks. More or less stitches to adjust the width of your bag. In this case I cast on a total of 48 stitches onto a single needle and transferred them to two DPNs by alternating needles as I transferred the stitches. It sounds confusing even though I’m the one who did it. Think of it this way… needle one gets the first stitch, needle 2 the second, needle 1 the third, needle 2 the fourth etc. Or again, your favorite method (cast on as to knit in the round and then sew up the bottom would work too).

Shaping
The bag is knit in the round and we’ll begin shaping the radius corners in the very first row.

So you understand my method for creating the radius, I used the GIMP to make some circles so I could see the shape in pixels.

As you’ll see in the example image above, that the second row up from the bottom is 3 pixels longer, per side, than the first row. So that means I need to increase 3 stitches to shape that portion of the bag. I’m also working with a flat shape, so increases will happen before and after each of the side two markers.

For the bag in the picture and after frogging several times, I settled on a 26 stitch radius.

For the next 25 rows You’ll continue making the number of KFB increases in this same manner as above, but with the numbers listed below. For example, Round 2 would be to KFB in the first 3 stitches after the marker. Knit to within 3 stitches of the second marker and KFB3 times.

If you’re using Magic Circle Knitting, as I did with this bag, when you reach a marker, take time to adjust your cord. I usually kept the bulk of my extra cording at the opposite marker and used just enough slack on the working side to get my needle started.

Now that the corners are done, you’ll be adding an increase round (make one before and after each marker just like we did for the corners) every few rows until you have 72 stitches on your needles. The more rows between your increase rounds the deeper your bag will be.

Pleats
I don’t know about you, but I’ve never seen directions for pleating in knitting so I had to devise my own technique. The pattern reads – K6 (Pleat 12) 5 times K6 – Repeat for side 2

Now how does one Pleat 12? Good question… Slip 6 stitches to a cable or Double Pointed needle and hold them at the back. Then 3 needle knit from your left hand needle and the cable needle at the same time. Stitch Diva has a good video tutorial on YouTube if you’d like to see how it’s done.

Seed Stitch band and Handle
The good news is there’s only one row that needs pleating so we’re already onto the top band. In this bag I Knit 9 rows of K1P1 seed stitch for the top band. To get an odd number of stitches so I’d have beautiful seed stitch as I went round and round, I replaced the first K stitch with a single K2Tog.

At row 10 I began the bind off round Leaving 3 live stitches on each side of your markers. So starting at the beginning of the round I would knit 3 stitches in pattern, then bind off until I had 3 live stitches before the marker. Do the same for the other side.

For the handle, begin back and forth knitting in the K1P1 pattern until your strap is as long as you’d like it to be. Mine is fairly short because I usually end up with my purse in my hand or around my forearm. Depending on how comfortable you are, you can leave the live stitches you left on the opposite side right on the cable of your circular needle or slip them to a stitch holder.

Attaching the strap
The first trick is getting the K1P1 pattern of the strap to match up with the live stitches when you’re ready to attach. We’re going to do a bit of 3 needle kni

tting again, so slip the stitches on to your Cable needle or a DPN. Take a look at what you’ve got on the needle and what you’ll be knitting next on the strap. To get the next row to match up, the pattern should look the same on both sides.

At this point you can do a 3 needle bind off in pattern, or you can continue seed stitch for another round or two past the connection point.

The second trick is making sure you’re binding off or continuing your knitting where you’d like it to be. So take a moment to determine if you’ll be knitting to the inside or the outside of the bag before you join.

On this bag I knit just a couple more rows of the seed stitch pattern and then decreased by 2 stitches. I continued as a 4 stitch icord to attach a little spring clip for my keys.

Now I should caution you that was a knitter for less than 2 years when I wrote this post and this is one of my first tutorials. Please leave questions or comments below and I’ll do my best to clarify.

Along with my time issues ahead of FUDcon, I’ve been struggling with a design for a blanket I promised I’d make for my soon to be nephew, Luke. It had been a problem because I wanted to be sure I had something to take with me to work on while I’m in sessons or have down time.

The other problem I’ve been having with the blanket is that I told my sister I’m already making it. While it’s true I’ve been working on it, I just haven’t told her how many times I’ve frogged the yarn back onto the ball and stared again.

I’ve been having a really hard time coming up with something that won’t be dull to knit or dull to look at without being too complicated. Complicated is more important now that I only have a few weeks to get the blanket done. But I think I finally have something… Or at least I’m going with it now that I don’t have any time to goof around with new patterns.

Cast on with Color A
Row 1 – RS – using Color B – *K1, WYIF Sl1 PW* repeat between * until the end.
Row 2 – RS – Without turning work, slide all stitches to the right end of the needle and K all stitches with color A.Row 3 – WS – Turn work. Using B, *P1, WYIB Sl1 PW* repeat between * until the end
Row 4 – WS – Without turning work, slide all stitches to the right end of the needle and P all stitches with color A.

When I get the blanket done I’ll post pictures and give details about the yarn choices, needles and finished sizes.

As Seen in

Original Patterns

Hi!

Sometimes is hard to tell if I'm a high-tech entrepreneur or if I'm a housewife from a different time.

I've been experimenting with websites & online businesses since 1998. I bootstrapped my First eCommerce mail order company in 2001 and a second in 2003 growing that business to nearly $100,000 in gross revenue in it's first full year of operation.

Now, I'm rehabilitating an old house in the wilds of Michigan. Still quite active in Small Business counseling, but spending a little more time on home and family. Come along as I dabble in all the things a Twenty-First Century woman does in a busy week.